Austin Lee Hector, 29, of Hickory, was sentenced to serve six to eight years in prison following his conviction for two counts of trafficking fentanyl by possession during Catawba County Superior Court on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.
The Honorable Nathaniel J. Poovey, Superior Court Judge from Catawba County, imposed terms of the active sentence after Hector entered a guilty plea, along with a mandatory fine of $500,000.
The defendant will serve his period of incarceration in custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections.
On January 3, 2025, a health check was conducted by Hickory Police for Hector when he was slumped over the wheel of a vehicle at a convenience store.
When the vehicle door was opened, the defendant had a glass smoking pipe with powder residue in his hand. During a subsequent search of the vehicle and Hector, multiple containers of fentanyl were found. Additional plastic bags of drugs were found on Hector during a jail search.
The State Crime Lab confirmed that the drugs seized were a trafficking amount of fentanyl.
A traffic stop was conducted on September 22, 2024, for failure to maintain lane control. Hector was driving the vehicle, and a bag of narcotics was seen in plain view on the passenger side where an unconscious subject was sitting. An additional search turned up another baggie of drugs in the driver’s side floorboard where Hector was seated.
The drugs were determined to be a trafficking amount of fentanyl.
Investigation of the cases was handled by Caleb Turner of Hickory Police Department and Jake Brantley of Brookford Police Department. Assistant District Attorney Kyle Smith prosecuted the matters for the State with aid from Legal Assistant Amy Bishoff.